Global Agenda: Free Agent

A few months ago, Hi-Rez's Todd Harris announced that development on Tribes: Ascend was suspended, with the studio focusing its efforts their third-person DoTA-like Smite. With fans of that game growing concerned that its own continued development would eventually be in danger, the studio's CEO Erez Goren has posted a candid address to the Smite Reddit page, addressing Tribes' development, its financial troubles, and Smite's success in comparison. His comments also call into question their initial plan to release map-making tools for Tribes: Ascend.

As part of the post, Goren delves back into the history of Hi-Rez releases. "Global Agenda was our first game and it lost a lot of money," he writes. He goes on to explain how that loss was mitigated by the fact that its technology would support future games. "We continued to fund Global Agenda for more than a year after it was released and losing money, we continued to create content and new features but no matter how much work we did the user base kept declining."

That leads to Tribes: Ascend. "We created Tribes Ascend since we love Tribes," Goren writes, "we made it F2P so everyone can have easy access to it. We didn’t think Tribes Ascend would be a financial windfall but it was worth a risk to try." Unfortunately, the game was ultimately "break-even at best". "Tribes received exceptional reviews, we kept adding new features and content, but just like Global Agenda the user base kept declining no matter what we did." Goren's perspective is that "most games fail", with him comparing Tribes: Ascend's fate with "99% of the games".

In regards to the planned map-making and mod tools for the jet-powered FPS, they're looking unlikely. "Some people have asked for us to provide more tools for community content creation, but our infrastructure and development platform does not support that ability well and the cost and time to develop those features is extremely high. Contrary to the belief that we were ‘milking’ tribes to support the development of Smite, if we didn’t develop another game that could support the studios the company and the Tribe servers would have closed down."

And Smite? According to Goren, it's proving the exception. "Smite is one of those rare games that’s actually growing every month, and is also profitable. This is allowing us to grow the Smite team and deliver weekly updates and content (from 15 people initially to about 80 people now). In addition, many outside publishers were interested in Smite and we are fortunate enough to have made a deal with Tencent who is the most prestigious partner we can have for our type of game.

"Given everything we know Smite should have a long and successful future which is why we are very excited as a company and continue to work our butts off to make Smite the best Moba game in the world."

To read the full statement, including why Tribes: Ascend was apparently a bad fit for traditional publishers, head over to Goren's Reddit post.

Updates to Global Agenda have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Server downtime: The Global Agenda Servers are expected to be down on FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 from ~11:30 AM to 3:00 PM US Eastern (16:30 to 20:00 GMT) while the patch is deployed. Watch GAServerStatus on Twitter for the latest server availability information.

Changes since Version 1.5- Vendors and the Agent Profile now list item/weapon types- Vendors show the items required player level only when you are below it.- Item tooltips now show the required player level at all times.

Bugs Fixed in Version 1.5.1.0- Fixed numerous terrain and geometry issues in North Sonora.- The NPCs spawned for the Enemy at the Gates assignment no longer reward loot or XP.- Some assignments were incorrectly configured to be considered complete when you accepted them; those are now fixed.- Fixed a bug in the HUD Assignment indicators that occasionally made them invisible.- Fixed a number of incorrect item icons.- The vendor screen has an option to purchase Agenda Points, to reduce confusion on how to acquire them.- The tutorial should no longer show the movement help during the opening cinematic.- Exiting the tutorial will now always direct your character to Dome City.- Improved feedback for vendor items that require achievements before purchasing

Updates to Global Agenda have been released. The updates will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted. The major changes include:

Version 1.5 is the first release of the Recursive Colony expansion and includes major new features, new content and fixes for Global Agenda, including the North Sonora Open Zone.

Server downtime: The Global Agenda Servers are expected to be down on WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2011 from ~11:00 AM to 5:00 PM US Eastern (16:00 to 22:00 GMT) while the patch is deployed. Watch GAServerStatus on Twitter for the latest server availability information.

Major Highlights since Version 1.4

General- A new Open Zone: North Sonora - continues where Dr. Bolonov left off in observing the Recursive Colony at New Yuma. The Colony has grown increasingly aggressive and is now encroaching heavily on ARM territory. This zone leads players out into the northern part of the Sonoran region to discover the Colonys origins and attempt to suppress its threat to the freed people of Dome City.- Quests are now referred to as assignments in game to avoid confusion with missions.

Maps- Significant additions and reworks to Intro missions, including class-based tutorials- Push - Dust: Reworked first objective point- Push - Dust is now available in the Mercenary PvP queue- Acquisition - Colony Cavern: A new Acquisition map in a Recursive setting. Now available for testing in the Beta Maps queue- North Sonora has numerous new instances available for play as you progress through the assignment line.

Features- The assignment system has been improved considerably to allow a greater variety of game play in North Sonora.- New Repeatable Daily assignments are available in the new zone.- Assignment rewards may now include random items that help your character progression.- Improved interfaces on the assignment dialog and log.- Elite Agents now earn a 50% bonus to XP and credits received from assignments.- Boosters now earn a 50% bonus to XP and credits received from assignments.- Boosters may occasionally receive an additional random reward from assignments.- Beacons have been networked together in the open zones, allowing teleportation to specific, previously explored areas of the open zone.- You can now change what assignment you are tracking from the HUD. The default keybind is G, and allows you to quickly scan the area for your assignments.- You may now switch to a different instance of an open zone without having to return to Dome City. See the transport kiosks just outside the Dome for more details. Note: VR Arena instance kiosks were fixed in the process.- Added a zone chat, which connects all instances of an open zone together.You can switch to the zone channel by starting your chat message with /1 . /z  also works, as does using the existing UI.- City chat continues to support /c, though it is now considered a zone channel and also respects the /1 chat directive.- Dont be surprised if you find random chests with loot when traversing North Sonora.- Elite Agent and Boosters are now available in-game for Agenda Points.- Disconnect now returns you to Character Select screen instead of the login screen.- Leveling up now grants a full health and power pool restore.- Clients should no longer freeze for a few seconds between login attempts.- Added various help and tutorial systems. More will be added.- Removed the old detailed help menu, which was out-of-date.- Rare Goods Vendor was banned for using AvA exploits.- On-screen notifications when raid and other timed events become available.

Bots- Juggernauts should now award XP when killed.- Ticks now award XP when killed.- Increased XP awarded from Colony Snipers that appear in Raid missions.- Colony Wasps should now better pursue their targets out of LOS- Many previously unseen enemies have been sighted in North Sonora.

Bugs Fixed in Version 1.5- Weapons with right-click secondary fire modes now correctly use the initially fired attack to determine damage and effects (commonly known as the Beat Stick bug)- Fixed Helot Minigun not having improved accuracy when using right-click turret mode.- Robotics HEL-TAC Rifle now has less visual sight-blocking effects whiled firing scoped- Fixed missing invulnerability in attacker tech pod in Hex Plant 03 and Hex Missile Facility.- In the open zones, you should no longer be respawned in an unexplored location.- Network and system improvements should eliminate most of the previous lag-related assignment issues.- Improved the received item UI: you now should be able to see the full item name.- The promotion systems feedback has been bugfixed and improved.- When equipping, changing offhand or dye slots should no longer set your equipment back to the first page.- Fixed a client crash caused by whispering target names of a certain length.- Boosted Agents should now be able to fly in Dome City irrespective of their client machines settings.- Your chat should default to the zone chat channel when appropriate, rather than starting you in the local channel.- Assignment-specific missions should have a simplified end-of-mission screen rather than the standard screen populated with no data.- Right-click inspecting Agents no longer shows you their currency.

Global Agenda has experimented with a number of different business models since it was released. It started as a typical retail game, then offered an unlimited trial period, and just recently it went completely free to play. We recently spoke with Hi-Res Studio COO Todd Harris about the move to the new pricing model. He told us that Global Agenda is enjoying five times the number of players since the shift to free to play, and revenues "are higher than they ever have been before."

"We recently shifted it in the past quarter to free to play and we've only seen great things out of that decision," said Harris. "We have many many more people creating accounts every day, many more people playing concurrently, our revenues are higher than they ever have been before which means we can develop content and put it into the game faster than ever before."

"Philosophically, I probably wouldn't have said this two years ago because I maybe had more a negative bias about free to play," he added. "The way we look at it it lets us succeed based on the strength of the gameplay more than marketing and that probably to me is the biggest advertisement for it."

Harris told us that even compared to the level capped trial, the free to play approach has enticed many more players. "We now have five times as many interested players every day going through that same experience knowing that it's free to play and it's not a demo," he said.

Give the success of free to play for Global Agenda, and other games like Lord of the Rings Online and Team Fortress 2, will there be more free to play games to come? "I think more and more will," says Harris, "you never say never. For some blockbuster, very well-known brands, there's still a $60 single price entry fee even if there's microtransactions after that, because they just can command it, because they do have that market awareness, but I do think it's clearly the direction of gaming."

Global Agenda recently received a patch adding new maps and a jetpack shop. Hi-Rez studios are currently working on future updates for Global Agenda, and are developing Tribes: Ascend.

A new Global Agenda update is set to arrive later today, adding new maps and a couple of new stores, one selling jetpacks, and another selling "cosmetic flair." The Global Agenda servers will be down for a few hours while the patch is applied, between 11:00 and 17:00 US Eastern time / 16:00 to 22:00 GMT.

The two new maps, Magmarock and Haulin' Acid have been promoted from beta status to be played in PvP mode. Magmarock is a control map that will be added to the Mercenaries PvP queue, while Haulin' Acid provides another payload arena.

The new jetpack store can be found in Dome City. Ironically, you have to use a Dome City jetpack to reach the jetpack store on the upper levels of the hub. The store will also sell custom jetpack trails. The new fashion store, Burning Fashions, will replace Carter's Seasonal Accessories, and provide more buy-able cyborg bling to pimp out your warrior. You'll find the full patch notes below.

Dome City Changes:

Carter’s Seasonal Accessories has closed up shop.Burning Fashion has arrived in Dome City and will be selling cosmetic flair where Carter’s used to be.The long awaited Skyward Jetpacks has finally landed at the upper deck of Dome City and is open for business. In addition to selling jetpacks available elsewhere in the game, Skyward also sells high-end jetpack trail effects. You must be a boosted customer with a jetpack in Dome City in order to reach the upper deck of Dome City where Skyward resides.Adjusted the position of the guard at the South gate to the Sonoran Desert to be less confusing to players attempting to exit the dome.

Open Zone Changes:

Uncommon quality Repair Kits can now be purchased from Yuma Imports at New Yuma StationFixed some issues with materials that appeared to flicker when using Direct X 10 on some clients

Gameplay Changes:

Frenzy wave should now properly award buff points for hitting allies

Bugs Fixed in Version 1.44

Finalized netcode update (initially deployed on 6/23). Significant changes to net code that improve communication between the Atlanta data center and the games` other data centers. This should reduce occurrences of the "stuck on floor” issue for EU and NA West users, as well as provide some other benefits while entering and leaving matches.

Map Changes

New PvP Control map “Magmarock” has been promoted from Beta and added permanently to the Mercenary PvP Queue.New PvP Payload map “Haulin’ Acid” has been added to the Beta Maps Queue.

It is frustrating that Valve insist on telling the world very important news just as everyone in the office turns off their PCs to go home. That leaves it to me to tell you that Valve have added microtransaction support for free-to-play games to Steam, with five available immediately: Champions Online: Free for All, Global Agenda: Free Agent, Spiral Knights, Forsaken Worlds, and Alliance of Valliant Arms.

Starting tomorrow, each of the five games will offer exclusive in-game content to those players who try out the "free-to-play game of the day." That likely means Champions Online will soon be inundated with new players wearing Pyro masks or wielding Gordon's crowbar, which can only be a good thing for all involved.

Read on for a few more thoughts.

You can find all five games in the new free-to-play section of the Steam store.

The news here is that Steamworks' micropayment functionality is being used across all the games. The tech was originally rolled out for Team Fortress 2's Mannconomy update, and it has been generating wads of money for Valve and prompting occasional ire from gamers ever since. Given that these games were already free-to-play with micropayments though, it seems like little cause for further consternation.

Instead, it seems like a good thing. Free-to-play games vary in quality wildly, and there's so many of them from so many developers that it's difficult to work out which are worth your time. Having a bunch of them in a central place like Steam, where you can see what your friends are playing, should make it easier to work out what's worth your time. It'll also stop these games being so marginalised and take away a little of the stigma of playing them. If that results in the good free-to-play games getting the attention they deserve, then that's great.

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today introduced support for Free to Play (F2P) Games on Steam with the launch of five F2P games.

Beginning tomorrow (Weds) with Spiral Knights and concluding Sunday with AVA, each of the five launch titles will offer exclusive in-game content to those who try the "F2P game of the day" on Steam. In game transactions in all of the titles will be supported by Steam's micro-transaction backend system that is available to Steamworks partners and currently used in Valve's Team Fortress 2.

"The introduction of Free to Play games is another example of the constant evolution of Steam," said Jason Holtman, director of business development at Valve. "Free to Play games offer new game genres and game experiences for customers, while offering developers and publishers new revenue opportunities and the ability to reach customers in areas of the world where the traditional packaged goods model is less popular than F2P."

Specific details on the F2P games of the day and their exclusive in-game content will be made available in the coming days.

Steam is a leading platform for PC & Mac games and digital entertainment serving over 1,500 games to over 30 million active accounts worldwide. For more information, please visit www.steamgames.com

Server downtime: The Global Agenda Servers are expected to be down on WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 2011 from approximately 11:00 a.m. until as late as 5:00 p.m. US Eastern (17:00 to 22:00 GMT) while the patch is deployed. Watch GAServerStatus on Twitter for the latest server availability information.Major Highlights since Version 1.42Device and Skill Changes:

Spring Stealth had its jump height increased.

Jump to Jetpack Time was changed from 0.3 seconds to 0.2 seconds for Hands Free and Combat jetpacks.

Dome City Changes:

The Rare Goods Vendor has arrived in Dome City and is selling new dyes and flair, as well as rare items and pets. The Rare Goods Vendors offerings may change from day to day.

Fixed bug where users could not purchase from CyberCuts and DNA Reconstruction vendors.

Fixed bug in which some weapons that you could previously sell back to the vendor for credits could not be sold.

Fixed issue where some players could get stuck unable to accept quests required to enter the Sonoran Desert. The guard at the gate in the Transport Area should now provide the starter quest to the chain for characters that haven't yet completed it.

Map Changes

Breach - Himalayan Point - Extended the facilitys forcefield to prevent players from getting through during setup time

You know what? It's been a hell of a month for free games. Normally, when planning this column, I've to scour the internet high and low to locate some hidden gems. This month, they've been coming out of the walls, man! Special mentions should go to Picaroon, Space Engine and Pragmatica, all of which are worth a look, but read below the jump to find out which titles I've ended up loving the most.

Technobabylon - Part III: In Nuntius VeritasTechnocrat. Grab it from GameJolt.

I really need to go back to the start of Technobabylon at some point. Its first episode was an unassuming little room escape title with some interesting narrative touches to keep things fresh. Since then it's expanded into an enormous adventure series set in an unsettling future where your character is under constant oppression or threat.

Part III is the most stylish so far, and perhaps the most well-written, although all three episodes are marvelous from a storytelling perspective. For my money, the actual game itself isn't quite as strong, with a couple of stinkers in the puzzle and mini-game department. But now that the several interlocking strands of the story are coming together, there's never been a better time to give the series a go.Soul Brother. Play it on the website.

This is a neat idea. From the always-agreeably-barmy comes a new platformer, which is essentially a game about very carefully timed suicide. Yeah. Exactly.

The idea is this. Soul Brother features a string of different characters, each with its own special abilities. When one character dies, its spirit enters the next one, and you play on from there. The trick is to time your deaths so that the next character is in the most favourable position to plod along with the adventure.

The game itself is a pretty straightforward, unremarkable platformer, but the art style is nice, and the idea behind it is lovely. So is the name, come to think of it.Ace of SpadesBen Askoy. Download it from the official website.

Hey, look, it's Minecraft: World War I edition with a multiplayer twist! Ace of Spades so shamelessly nicks both the core mechanics and visual design of Mojang's pre-release classic that my initial response was to laugh at it, and ignore it. But it turns out there's a bit more going on here than you might expect.

Firstly, its rudimentary physics system opens up a whole boatload of new creative avenues. And secondly, the combat is a huge improvement on Minecraft's, with some absolutely fantastic range and satisfying insta-kill headshots.

The first beta build was as bug-ridden as you can imagine, but an updated version - which I've not touched yet - is now available. And, of course, this is entirely free, so a lot of that stuff can be quite reasonably forgiven when set against all the fun you're having.Global Agenda: Free AgentHi-Rez Studios. Get it from the game's website.

I thought Global Agenda was pretty rubbish, if I'm honest. I played it for a while with PC Gamer contributor Phill Cameron, and the most fun either of us had was getting into an utterly ludicrous argument with one player about who was allowed to dance in which bits of the game's Dome City hub.

But it's a different matter when no coins are involved. Global Agenda: Free Agent is the free-to-play version of Hi-Rez's team-based shooter/MMO hybrid, and while it retains all the original's flaws, they're a lot more forgivable when your bank balance remains intact.

Combat still feels flimsy, there's still very little variety to the game, and the MMO side is still simultaneously undeveloped and unintuitive. But weighed up against other free-to-play shooters, Free Agent actually fairs rather well. Perhaps High-Rez would have done well to realise that from the start.Don't Take It Personally, Babe, It Just Ain't Your StoryChristine Love. Download it from Christine's website.

Do you remember Digital: A Love Story? If you don't, it's presumably because you never played it, because such a fiercely creative little indie game would certainly have stuck with you in the 18 months since its release. The brilliantly named Don't Take It Personally, Babe, It Just Ain't Your Story is a spiritual successor of sorts - although this time, writer/developer Christine Love's efforts are marginally less striking.

It ostensibly takes the form of a visual novel, but the more you play, the more you realise there are more interactive elements than you might think. Set 15 years into the future, Don't Take It Personally lobs you into the shoes of a divorced high school teacher, and the plot unfolds as you decide the extent to which you feel comfortable becoming involved with (or intruding on?) your pupils' lives.

This is hardly a traditional game, and the visual style is a little jarring, not least because this futuristic school is apparently still using big boxy televisions and blackboards. But it also made me ask more questions of myself than a game has managed since the original Dragon Age. At around two hours long, it's best completed in one sitting - and while the ending is disappointingly unsubtle, I came away from it with a positive impression overall.

You know what? It's been a hell of a month for free games. Normally, when planning this column, I've to scour the internet high and low to locate some hidden gems. This month, they've been coming out of the walls, man! Special mentions should go to Picaroon, Space Engine and Pragmatica, all of which are worth a look, but read below the jump to find out which titles I've ended up loving the most.

Technobabylon - Part III: In Nuntius VeritasTechnocrat. Grab it from GameJolt.

I really need to go back to the start of Technobabylon at some point. Its first episode was an unassuming little room escape title with some interesting narrative touches to keep things fresh. Since then it's expanded into an enormous adventure series set in an unsettling future where your character is under constant oppression or threat.

Part III is the most stylish so far, and perhaps the most well-written, although all three episodes are marvelous from a storytelling perspective. For my money, the actual game itself isn't quite as strong, with a couple of stinkers in the puzzle and mini-game department. But now that the several interlocking strands of the story are coming together, there's never been a better time to give the series a go.Soul Brother. Play it on the website.

This is a neat idea. From the always-agreeably-barmy comes a new platformer, which is essentially a game about very carefully timed suicide. Yeah. Exactly.

The idea is this. Soul Brother features a string of different characters, each with its own special abilities. When one character dies, its spirit enters the next one, and you play on from there. The trick is to time your deaths so that the next character is in the most favourable position to plod along with the adventure.

The game itself is a pretty straightforward, unremarkable platformer, but the art style is nice, and the idea behind it is lovely. So is the name, come to think of it.Ace of SpadesBen Askoy. Download it from the official website.

Hey, look, it's Minecraft: World War I edition with a multiplayer twist! Ace of Spades so shamelessly nicks both the core mechanics and visual design of Mojang's pre-release classic that my initial response was to laugh at it, and ignore it. But it turns out there's a bit more going on here than you might expect.

Firstly, its rudimentary physics system opens up a whole boatload of new creative avenues. And secondly, the combat is a huge improvement on Minecraft's, with some absolutely fantastic range and satisfying insta-kill headshots.

The first beta build was as bug-ridden as you can imagine, but an updated version - which I've not touched yet - is now available. And, of course, this is entirely free, so a lot of that stuff can be quite reasonably forgiven when set against all the fun you're having.Global Agenda: Free AgentHi-Rez Studios. Get it from the game's website.

I thought Global Agenda was pretty rubbish, if I'm honest. I played it for a while with PC Gamer contributor Phill Cameron, and the most fun either of us had was getting into an utterly ludicrous argument with one player about who was allowed to dance in which bits of the game's Dome City hub.

But it's a different matter when no coins are involved. Global Agenda: Free Agent is the free-to-play version of Hi-Rez's team-based shooter/MMO hybrid, and while it retains all the original's flaws, they're a lot more forgivable when your bank balance remains intact.

Combat still feels flimsy, there's still very little variety to the game, and the MMO side is still simultaneously undeveloped and unintuitive. But weighed up against other free-to-play shooters, Free Agent actually fairs rather well. Perhaps High-Rez would have done well to realise that from the start.Don't Take It Personally, Babe, It Just Ain't Your StoryChristine Love. Download it from Christine's website.

Do you remember Digital: A Love Story? If you don't, it's presumably because you never played it, because such a fiercely creative little indie game would certainly have stuck with you in the 18 months since its release. The brilliantly named Don't Take It Personally, Babe, It Just Ain't Your Story is a spiritual successor of sorts - although this time, writer/developer Christine Love's efforts are marginally less striking.

It ostensibly takes the form of a visual novel, but the more you play, the more you realise there are more interactive elements than you might think. Set 15 years into the future, Don't Take It Personally lobs you into the shoes of a divorced high school teacher, and the plot unfolds as you decide the extent to which you feel comfortable becoming involved with (or intruding on?) your pupils' lives.

This is hardly a traditional game, and the visual style is a little jarring, not least because this futuristic school is apparently still using big boxy televisions and blackboards. But it also made me ask more questions of myself than a game has managed since the original Dragon Age. At around two hours long, it's best completed in one sitting - and while the ending is disappointingly unsubtle, I came away from it with a positive impression overall.